Only spent one night in Guangzhou but I really made most of it. First of all, where I was staying on a small island is where the US Consulate is located, and also apparently, where a big center for Americans adopting Chinese is located. Everywhere I walked around there were stores selling baby clothes and strollers, and American (or white at least) couples walking their new adoptees in same strollers. I guess you have to spend a month in Guangzhou before you can take the child out.
So, then I went over the bridge into Guangzhou proper to have some dinner. I sat down with a beer at some street restuarant and looked at the menu. Of course I can't read Chinese so my main modus oprerandi is to just point at something and then eat whatever it is that they bring me. So, I did that this time and the woman looked at me, looked at her coworkers and then looked at me again. I went back to reading my book and about two minutes later she plops down a bowl of stew. Grub stew. With a few grubs in it but one that is about the size of my index finger. I am totally aghast. I gasp and everyone laughs and then the woman points and something else on the menu and I nod and she takes away the grub(s). So,a few minutes later she comes back with something (pork?) which I eat and the she brings some broth which I sip and then I'm moving my spoon in the broth and then I see a piece of...wait, it's the grub cut in half! Needless to say, I didn't eat it.
So, I went on back to the hostel and as I'm preparing for bed I swing my legs around on my top bunk, lose my balance, and fall, literally, on my face. I chip a tooth and bite right through my lip and bleed just about everywhere. I left the room to go find a mirror to see how bad it was and walked past the reception area where all the employees go totally apeshit. They take me back to my room and in the morning they all come in and ask if I'm ok which was nice. Anyway, other than a scarred and obvious fat lip and also having a chipped tooth I'm fine. Or so I thought. That morning I had to get on a train for a 23 hour train ride to Beijing. No problem. Except when I tried to eat my ramen noodles in that first hour I realized that my mouth and gums hurt and were so swollen I couldn't eat solid food! Awesome, right! So, for the rest of the trip I just laid in my bunk and put small pieces of roll in my mouth that would eventually become saturated with saliva and then I could swallow them.
So, now I'm back in Beijing and I'm off to find a dentist.
So, then I went over the bridge into Guangzhou proper to have some dinner. I sat down with a beer at some street restuarant and looked at the menu. Of course I can't read Chinese so my main modus oprerandi is to just point at something and then eat whatever it is that they bring me. So, I did that this time and the woman looked at me, looked at her coworkers and then looked at me again. I went back to reading my book and about two minutes later she plops down a bowl of stew. Grub stew. With a few grubs in it but one that is about the size of my index finger. I am totally aghast. I gasp and everyone laughs and then the woman points and something else on the menu and I nod and she takes away the grub(s). So,a few minutes later she comes back with something (pork?) which I eat and the she brings some broth which I sip and then I'm moving my spoon in the broth and then I see a piece of...wait, it's the grub cut in half! Needless to say, I didn't eat it.
So, I went on back to the hostel and as I'm preparing for bed I swing my legs around on my top bunk, lose my balance, and fall, literally, on my face. I chip a tooth and bite right through my lip and bleed just about everywhere. I left the room to go find a mirror to see how bad it was and walked past the reception area where all the employees go totally apeshit. They take me back to my room and in the morning they all come in and ask if I'm ok which was nice. Anyway, other than a scarred and obvious fat lip and also having a chipped tooth I'm fine. Or so I thought. That morning I had to get on a train for a 23 hour train ride to Beijing. No problem. Except when I tried to eat my ramen noodles in that first hour I realized that my mouth and gums hurt and were so swollen I couldn't eat solid food! Awesome, right! So, for the rest of the trip I just laid in my bunk and put small pieces of roll in my mouth that would eventually become saturated with saliva and then I could swallow them.
So, now I'm back in Beijing and I'm off to find a dentist.
posted by Josh at 1:56 AM
6 Comments:
holy cow! that's nasty (both stories). but i will say, i didn't think i'd like escargot, but if they're prepared correctly they're pretty good. so maybe grubs are worth a 2nd look.
i assume they have socialized medicine there? this is why adults have no business on bunk beds.
I wouldn't have guessed that grub stew was a go-to-restaurant sort of thing but rather a just-relaxing-at-home sort of thing. But to be honest I haven't thought much about grub stew before this very moment.
Hi,
Sorry to hear about your lip/tooth.
I've read that silkworms are a specialty in Guangzhou. According to Ha Jin, they taste kind of like shrimp. Maybe that's what you had.
Alison
Are you eating regularly again?
If by regularly you mean "no grubs/silkworms," I hope it's yes.
bah, I hate the tooth story, I have chipped my teeth so many times I could feel the pain. It made me loudly gasp in horror. And when you work in a library thats quite horrified.
-Head
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